Facsimile telecommunications system and method

ABSTRACT

A fax processing system handles faxes that are originally destined for a recipient&#39;s phone number. The fax processing system communicates with the fax recipient via a data communications network (for example, the Internet) and can provide more sophisticated fax handling capabilities than conventional fax machines.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to telecommunications systems used inconnection with facsimile (fax) transmissions. More particularly, itrelates to additional capabilities and/or options for handling faxes.

2. Description of the Related Art

The electronic transmission of documents by way of fax systems continuesto be commonplace and, often, an essential component of many businessactivities. With the emergence of electronic mail in the businessenvironment, many predicted the demise of fax. This has not been thecase.

However, there continue to be shortcomings among the fax systemscurrently in use in the business and consumer markets. In the businesssetting, fax machines may be busy or out of paper, preventing thereceipt of incoming faxes. Furthermore, there generally is no real-timenotification to a recipient that a fax has been sent to the recipient.That is, a fax recipient generally is not aware that a fax exists untilit is hand delivered or picked up at the fax machine. If the recipientis expecting a fax, it is inconvenient for him to constantly checkwhether the fax has arrived if the fax machine is located far away fromthe recipient. Fax machines may also be shared by many users and, as aresult, the sender of the fax often will feel obligated to take theadditional step of drafting a cover page to identify the recipient ofthe fax. In some cases, faxed documents are of such a sensitive naturethat the sender would like to have some control over who might see thosedocuments as they move from the receiving fax machine to the actualrecipient. In the consumer setting, individuals may not have access to adedicated or shared fax machine and/or a dedicated fax line. This canmake it difficult or impossible to receive faxes. These circumstancesresult in a number of practical problems for fax users.

In recent years, Fax-to-Email services such as that provided byCallWave, Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif., have been introduced to addressthese problems for users with access to electronic mail systems.Typically, faxes are converted to email attachments and then sent to therecipient's email address. However, these services are only as reliableas the underlying email delivery system. Some email systemsautomatically reject messages with attachments, some email systems stripoff attachments and some categorize fax-to-email messages as spam anddiscard the inbound message. In addition, if the email capacity of anindividual's mailbox is full, the email system will reject thefax-to-email message. Furthermore, fax recipients typically do notreceive a notification and/or fax until the entire fax has beendelivered to the Fax-to-Email service and then sent through a private orpublic network (e.g., the Internet) to the recipient. Email deliverydelays can occur when the Internet is used. Fax-to-Email services mayprovide the phone number from which the fax was sent in the header orbody of the email message. However, in many cases, the recipient willnot recognize this phone number because voice calls are not normallymade from the same phone number. Furthermore, the phone number isprovided with the fax attachment, rather than in advance, so that therecipient's ability to screen faxes is limited.

As a result, there is a need for fax systems that support real-timenotification and/or reception of faxes by recipients, preferably bycommunications channels other than to fax machines or by email. There isalso a need for fax systems with more sophisticated fax handlingcapabilities than are currently available.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention, a fax processing system overcomes some or allof the drawbacks discussed above. Faxes that are originally destined fora recipient's phone number are received by the fax processing system,which can provide more sophisticated fax handling capabilities. The faxprocessing system communicates with the fax recipient (aka, asubscriber) via a data communications network.

For example, in one implementation, the fax processing system interfacesto a PSTN on the one hand, and to the Internet on the other hand. Faxessent to subscribers are received via the PSTN at the fax processingsystem. For example, fax calls may be forwarded from the subscriber'sphone number to the fax processing system, or the subscriber's phonenumber may terminate in the fax processing system. Regardless, the faxprocessing system, in turn, transmits the fax and/or a fax notificationto the subscriber via the Internet. Optionally, the subscriber caninstruct the fax processing system to execute different fax handlinginstructions.

In one aspect of the invention, faxes are streamed to the subscriber,assuming s/he is online. Alternately, a fax notification rather than theentire fax can be streamed to the subscriber. Streaming allowsnotification or delivery of a fax in real-time or near real-time, whichhas advantages. For example, the resulting display may includeinformation about the sender (e.g., as obtained from calleridentification information) and allow the subscriber to take differentactions with respect to the fax.

As a few examples of fax handling features, the subscriber may instructthe fax processing system to forward the fax, either to a differentphone number(s) and/or to a different network address(es). Alternately,the subscriber can halt the fax receipt or the fax delivery, or blockall future calls coming from the same phone number. Faxes can also bestored for future delivery, for example if the subscriber is not onlinewhen the fax is received. Different data rates can be used for delivery.In one approach, faxes are trickled down to the subscriber in thebackground so as not to fully consume the bandwidth of the subscriber'snetwork connection. In another embodiment, the fax notification and/orfax could be broadcast to multiple locations.

Other aspects of the invention include other methods, devices andsystems corresponding to the above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings summarized below, along with the detailed description thatfollows, are provided to illustrate the other advantages and features ofthe invention and the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system with faxhandling capabilities according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a composite flow diagram illustrating many different aspectsof operation of the system in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one implementation of the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing further details of the fax processingsystem of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a call-flow diagram illustrating an example functionimplemented by the system of FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 6 is a graphical depiction of a display of a fax notification withoptions for additional fax handling.

FIG. 7 is a call-flow diagram illustrating another example functionimplemented by the system of FIGS. 3 and 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system with faxhandling capabilities according to the invention. Two networks are shownin FIG. 1: a public telephone network 4 and a data communicationsnetwork 6. Examples of the public telephone network 4 include the PSTN,VoIP networks, and wireless networks. Examples of data communicationsnetwork 6 include the Internet, virtual private data networks, and WANs.The data communications network 6 may carry information besides justdata, for example it may carry both voice and data simultaneously.

A sender's fax device 2 is connected to the public telephone network 4and a subscriber's data device 10 is connected to the datacommunications network 6. A fax processing system 24 is connected toboth networks 4,6. The connections can be made either directly orindirectly. For example, the sender's fax device 2 could be a faxmachine plugged into a telephone jack or routed through a PBX. It couldalso be a computer with fax transmission software that is connected tothe public telephone network 4 via a LAN and a gateway (between the LANand the telephone network). On the subscriber side, examples of thesubscriber's data device 10 include computers, PDAs, and devices thatcombine both voice and data (e.g., a Handspring Treo). The data device10 can be connected to the data communications network 6 by any means,including for example by a dial-up connection, a broadband connection(e.g., DSL, cable, or direct fiber), a direct connection to the core ofthe data communications network 6, or wireless access. The connectionscan be either permanent or temporary. In addition, although the faxprocessing system 24 is shown in FIG. 1 as a single box, it should beunderstood that parts of the fax processing system may be distributedamong the different devices 2, 10 and networks 4, 6.

The sender would like to send a fax to the subscriber. The terms senderand subscriber are used loosely and may include people, companies, andcomputers, for example. In a direct fax-to-fax transmission, thesender's fax device 2 would dial the phone number for the subscriber'sfax device 12, and the fax would be routed through the public telephonenetwork 4 to the subscriber's fax device 12, which would then print outor otherwise display the fax.

In FIG. 1, the sender's fax device 2 initially proceeds the same asbefore. It functions as if to send the fax to the subscriber's phonenumber, but the fax call is received and handled by the fax processingsystem 24. For example, the fax call may be call forwarded from thesubscriber's phone number to a phone number for the fax processingsystem 24, including call forward on busy (i.e., forward when thesubscriber's phone number is busy), call forward all (i.e., forward allcalls regardless of the state of the subscriber's phone number), andcall forward no answer (i.e., forward if the subscriber's phone numberrings but is not answered). Alternately, the subscriber's phone numbermay terminate at the fax processing system 24 so that the fax call isrouted directly to the fax processing system. For example, thesubscriber may be assigned a phone number that was originally obtainedfrom the local phone carrier as terminating in the fax processing system24. If the subscriber already has a phone number, it can be local numberported—i.e., ported from the local phone carrier to the fax processingsystem 24, so that calls terminate directly at the fax processingsystem.

Use of the fax processing system 24 allows for more sophisticated faxhandling options. FIG. 2 is a composite flow diagram that shows some ofthe different fax handling options that can be implemented. Differentfax processing systems 24 can implement different features shown in FIG.2. Upon receiving 52 the fax call, the fax processing system 24 canautomatically handle the fax according to rules determined by thesubscriber. For example, the fax processing system 24 may automaticallyblock faxes from known telemarketers or from phone numbers on asubscriber's BLOCKED list. Alternatively, the fax processing system 24may automatically send the fax, or a fax notification, to a networkaddress (or addresses) specified by the subscriber.

As part of its fax handling, the fax processing system 24 may alsodetermine 54 whether the subscriber is connected to the datacommunications network 6 and, if connected, the network address beingused by the subscriber. If the subscriber is connected, the faxprocessing system 24 can immediately or in real-time notify 56 thesubscriber of the incoming fax call at the subscriber's network address.Upon receipt of the notification, the subscriber may send 60 additionalinstructions to the fax processing system 24. In this way, thesubscriber will not have to wait for the fax processing system 24 toreceive the entire fax. After notifying the subscriber, the faxprocessing system 24 can begin streaming the incoming fax to thesubscriber for display as it is being received. The subscriber may sendadditional instructions 60 to the fax processing system 24 in responseto either receipt of the fax or the notification. In an alternateembodiment, the fax processing system 24 may automatically transmit thefax to the subscriber without first sending a fax notification.

If the subscriber is not connected to the data communications network 6,the fax processing system 24 can store 62 the fax. When the subscriberlater connects 54 to the data communications network 6, fax handling canproceed as before.

The use of a fax processing system 24 has many advantages over directfax-to-fax transmission or over current fax-to-email systems. The faxprocessing system 24 can be used to implement more sophisticated callhandling features, for example using rules based on the sender's phonenumber or time of day. If the fax processing system 24 is accessible bythe subscriber (e.g., over the Internet), then it may be simple for thesubscriber to change the rules whenever he likes. The fax processingsystem 24 also allows the subscriber to more easily change or usedifferent phone numbers and network addresses. For example, thesubscriber may use different phone numbers for different purposes (e.g.,one for business faxes, one for personal faxes, one for faxes fromcreditors). Different rules may apply to the different phone numbers,but faxes from all phone numbers may be sent to the same network addressso that the subscriber can view all faxes from a single network address.Alternatively, the subscriber can use multiple network addresses so thathe can view faxes from a number of different locations or data devices.

The streaming aspect, if implemented, allows subscribers to handle faxesin a more real-time fashion. For example, two colleagues may be workingon a document and one wants to share a drawing with the other. He canfax the drawing to his coworker's phone number, and the drawing isstreamed to the coworker's desktop. Compare this to a fax-to-emailsystem where the entire fax must first be received, then packaged as anattachment to an email, and then sent to the coworker. Assuming that theemail with attachment is not stripped by firewalls or other protections,the coworker must then wait for delivery (which often can be delayed),and then must open the email and then the attachment. Other advantageswill be apparent.

FIGS. 3-7 illustrate a specific implementation of the system shown inFIGS. 1-2. In this example, the public telephone network 4 includes thePSTN 104 and the data communications network 6 includes the Internet106. The sender's fax device 2 is a simple fax machine 102. Thesubscriber's data device 10 is a computer 110, which the subscriber isusing to access the Internet 106 via a dial-up connection. Thesubscriber has signed up for a Fax Line (FL) service, in which a phonenumber is assigned to the subscriber for the purpose of receiving faxes.This phone number terminates at the fax processing system 124 and doesnot normally terminate in the sender's physical fax machine, if he evenhas one.

FIG. 4 shows details of one implementation of the fax processing system124. It includes a fax management (FM) subsystem 108, a router subsystem140, an online presence-detection Internet session management (SM)subsystem 122, a shared media storage (MS) subsystem 138, and a database(DB) subsystem 136. Taking each subsystem in turn, the fax managementsubsystem 108 interfaces to the PSTN 104 and manages inbound fax callsand outbound fax or voice calls. Router subsystem 140 interfaces to theInternet 106 and manages communications between subscriber data devicesand the various servers. The online presence-detection Internet sessionmanagement subsystem 122 monitors the status of subscriber data devicesto determine availability for fax notification and delivery services.The shared media storage subsystem 138 persistently archives faxmessages. The database subsystem 136 contains records for thesubscribers, including rules to be applied for fax handling. It may alsostore the subscriber's address book and/or preferences. These varioussubsystems may be interconnected via Local Area Networks (LAN), privatevirtual networks running over the Internet and/or Wide Area Networks(WAN).

Referring back to FIG. 3, the sender's fax machine 102 is connected to alocal exchange carrier (LEC) switch via telephone lines 134. The faxmachine 102 can be directly connected to the LEC over conventional POTS(Plain Old Telephone Service) lines or via local extension lines behinda corporate Private Branch Exchange (PBX). Alternatively, the faxmachine 102 could be a computer with a fax modem connected to a LECswitch via telephone lines 134.

A ten-digit North American telephone number (shown as 131) is assignedto the subscriber during the FL registration process. Calls to the FLphone number 131 route through the PSTN via InterExchange Carrier (IXC)switches and/or Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) switches to eventuallyterminate at the fax processing system 124. The fax machine 102 and theassigned FL phone number 131 can be connected to the same switch ordifferent switches. If the fax machine 102 and FL number 131 are coupledto the same switch, the switch will be local to both the calling andcalled parties, as with intra-LATA or local calls. If the fax machine102 and FL number 131 are coupled to different switches, each switch maybe local only to one of the parties, as is the case for non-local callssuch as inter-LATA (long-distance) calls.

In the example of FIG. 4, the FM subsystem 108 is connected to the PSTN104 through voice trunk circuits 118 that directly interface with theInter Exchange Carrier's (IXC) circuit-switched or packet-switchedtelephony network. Thus, advantageously, the fax processing system 124does not have to be directly serviced by the same Local Exchange Carrier(LEC) switch or PBX as the fax machine 102. Because of this, the faxprocessing system 124 or its individual subsystem components can belocated in a different geographical area (for example, a differentcountry) than the sender and subscriber. In this embodiment, the faxprocessing system 124 is locally attached to a LEC switch with aphysical line or local trunk interface circuit. In such cases, theswitch may or may not be serving fax machine 102. In yet anotherembodiment, the FM subsystem 108 may be connected to the PSTN 104 via aVoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) network and associated routers 142.

The FL trunk circuits 118 are not limited to a particular signalingconvention. For example, the present invention can be utilized with aCommon Channel Signaling (CCS) system, such as Signaling System 7 (SS7),that has separate voice/user data and signaling channels. In addition,the present invention can be used with other signaling methods, such asthe following trunk-side signaling interfaces: ISDN-PRI, AdvancedIntelligent Network (AIN), and/or Service Node architectures.Preferably, the selected signaling system provides a suite ofcall-presentation information to the fax processing system 124,including one or more of the following:

-   -   ANI—Automatic Number Identification (“Caller ID”): phone number        and privacy indicator of the calling party (the sender in this        example).    -   DNIS—Dialed Number Identification System: phone number of the        called party (the FL phone number in this example).

The telephone line 114 may be shared with one or more computerterminals. For example, telephone 112 shares the telephone line 114 witha computer terminal 110. In this example, the telephone line 114 is usedto establish a dial-up connection for a computer terminal 110, via thecomputer modem, to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) offering dial-inremote-access service connections from the PSTN 104 via trunk interfacecircuits 120. The computer terminal 110 can also be connected to theInternet 106 via a broadband connection (such as a DSL or cable modemservice, or a T1 line). While the subscriber's data device is shown as acomputer terminal 110 in FIG. 3, it can also be an interactivetelevision, a network-enabled personal digital assistant (PDA), anotherIP (Internet Protocol) device, or the like. If the computer terminal 110is a personal computer, it can be equipped with a monitor, keyboard,mouse, disk drive, sound card (or similar sound-reproduction circuitry,such as a codec), streaming media playback software (such as the MediaPlayer program available from Microsoft), speakers, and a modem (such asa standard V.90 56K dial-up modem).

In this implementation, a client application 116 for the fax processingsystem 124 resides and executes on the computer terminal 110. The clientapplication 116 is connected to, and communicates with, the faxprocessing system 124 via the Internet 106.

The fax processing system 124 optionally hosts a web site used bysubscribers of the FL service to set up and manage their accounts.Set-up and management functions can be implemented by the clientapplication 116 as well.

The SM subsystem 122 monitors the Internet for online IP devicesregistered to subscribers to determine their availability for receivingfaxes. When a subscriber connects to the Internet using a dial-up ISP,for example, the client application 116 makes the subscriber's onlinepresence known to the fax processing system 124. Presence detection canbe performed by the SM subsystem 122 polling or pinging the clientapplication 116, or by the client application 116 transmitting a“Login/I'm alive” message and/or subsequent periodic “Keep alive”messages to the SM subsystem 122. This is just one example of presencemanagement. Broader presence management techniques could be employedincluding IETF SIMPLE technology.

If, rather than using a dial-up connection, the subscriber is using abroadband, always-on connection, such as a DSL or cable modem service,the client application 116 typically becomes active when the computerterminal 110 is turned on or powered up, and it stays on until thesubscriber manually shuts down the client application 116 or thecomputer 110 is turned off or powered down.

FIG. 5 is a call-flow diagram that illustrates one example of faxhandling. For clarity, the full details shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are notrepeated in FIG. 5. In this example, the sending party is associatedwith fax machine 102 and the subscriber's phone number is the oneassigned to the subscriber as part of the FL service. The FL service isset up to transmit a fax call notification and stream the inbound fax tothe subscriber.

The sending party initiates a fax call using his fax machine 102 bydialing 401 the subscriber's FL number 131. The PSTN 104 routes 402 thiscall to the FM subsystem 108 in the fax processing system 124. The faxprocessing system 124 receives 403 the incoming call and based at leastin part on the phone number called (obtainable by DNIS for example), theFM subsystem 108 queries the SM subsystem 122 and the DB subsystem 136to determine whether the called number is registered to a subscriber,what the subscriber's fax handling preferences are, and whether thesubscriber is online.

If the FL subscriber's computer terminal 110 is online, the FM subsystem108 opens a communication channel over the Internet 106 to the clientapplication 116 running on the subscriber's computer terminal 110. Thefax processing system 124 transmits 404 a fax call notification to thesubscriber's computer terminal 110.

If available, and if not designated as private, the Caller ID of thesending party is transmitted 404 to the client application 116 anddisplayed along with an optional sound notification. The Caller ID maycome from different sources. For example, the sending fax device mayprovide caller identification information, or it may be provided duringsetup of the call by the telephone network. The information may also beautomatically entered into the subscriber's address book. The soundnotification can be in the form of ringing, which is produced throughthe called party's computer terminal 110 speakers. In addition, the FMsubsystem 108 performs a Caller Name database lookup using the Caller IDof the calling party. The Caller Name, if available, is transmitted 404to the client application 116 and displayed to the subscriber.

Around the same time (it may be before or after), the fax processingsystem 124 answers 405 the incoming call and establishes 405 a fullduplex, (two-way) talk path with the sending party. The fax processingsystem 124 negotiates 406 a fax transmission session with the faxmachine 102 and begins to receive the fax. The FM subsystem 108 recordsand stores the caller's fax message in the MS subsystem 138 whilesimultaneously streaming 408 the fax through the opened Internet channelto the client application 116 on the subscriber's computer terminal 110.The client application 116 launches the computer terminal's 110image-viewing software (for example, Adobe Acrobat) to display thestreamed fax pages on the computer terminal's 110 monitor. The faxtransmission 408 to the subscriber can begin regardless of whether theentire fax has been received 407 by the fax processing system 124.

When the sending fax machine 102 completes the fax transmission, itterminates 409 the call. The fax processing system 124 then releasestrunk resources and signals 410 Call termination to the PSTN 104. Thefax processing system 124 also signals 411 completion of the faxtransmission to the subscriber by sending a corresponding controlmessage which is displayed to the subscriber via the client application116 as an entry in the call log (for example, 5 page fax 610).

Steps 401-411 illustrate one approach for streaming of a fax to asubscriber. Many variations will be apparent. For example, if thesubscriber's connection to the Internet 106 is a narrow-band dial-upconnection over a telephone line 114, a hybrid real-time solution can beused. Instead of transmitting the fax to the subscriber's computerterminal 110 at the maximum data rate possible, the FM subsystem 108working in conjunction with the client application 116 begins to“trickle” download the fax from the MS subsystem 138 to the subscriber'scomputer terminal 110 over the open Internet communication channel 106.In one approach, the fax is divided into smaller files that aredownloaded and reassembled by the client application 116 on thesubscriber's computer terminal 110. In another, the fax is simplytransmitted at a lower data rate than the maximum available, for examplein order to reduce congestion across the subscriber's Internetconnection. Whatever the implementation, trickle download helps ensurethat bandwidth is available to the subscriber for other purposes. Thetrickle download can transition to a faster download, for example if thesubscriber requests to view the fax immediately. The trickle downloadmay also be interrupted if the Internet connection 114, 120, 142 isterminated. On the next Internet connection, the client application 116can resume the trickle download where it left off. In some cases,downloads will be visible to the subscriber as an active call state, asshown for example in a pop-up window. Alternately, the subscriber candetermine the data rate used to download the fax.

In another variation, a client/server protocol can be designed tooperate through private and public firewalls. In this approach, theclient application 116 opens a channel through the firewall byinitiating “trusted” communication from inside the firewall to the faxprocessing system 124 outside the firewall. The client application 116sends a “keep alive” packet through the firewall, over the Internetchannel 106 to the SM subsystem 122. This “keep alive” message createsan open channel through the firewall along with a back channel from theSM subsystem 122 to the client application 116 to allow a reply with anacknowledgement message. When a new fax call is presented at the FMsubsystem 108, the FM sends a call presented message to the SM subsystem122, which relays the message to the client application 116 over thisback channel. The call presented message includes the network address ofthe FM and can be used by the client application 116 to initiatestreaming of the fax message by directly sending a new message to the FMsubsystem 108 thereby opening an additional pair of communication paths.The FM subsystem 108 then acknowledges receipt of this message from theclient and begins delivering the stream of fax content on the additionalback channel.

In addition to receiving faxes or fax notifications, the subscriber mayalso be presented with different fax handling options. FIG. 6 shows apop-up dialog menu that contains a fax notification 600 (including theCaller ID 610 and Caller Name 620 in this case) and which also containsoptions for additional fax handling.

If the subscriber ignores the notification pop-up menu, the faxprocessing system 124 will handle the fax according to the subscriber'sdefault rules. For example, the subscriber may have selected for the faxto be automatically streamed to his computer terminal. Alternately, thesubscriber may have selected for the fax to be stored until thesubscriber affirmatively elects to retrieve the fax.

Alternately, the subscriber may choose to ignore the incoming fax. Forexample, the fax may not have been urgent enough to interrupt what thesubscriber was doing, or the fax may have been intended for anothermember of the household. The subscriber can close the fax handlingoptions dialog box shown in FIG. 6 using the “CLOSE” option 630, whichwill instruct the fax processing system 124 that no further fax handlinginstructions will be arriving from the subscriber. The fax processingsystem 124 will then take appropriate actions. In one approach, the faxprocessing system 124 will wait until the entire fax has been receivedand then will transmit the fax in the background to the subscriber'scomputer terminal 110. The client application's 116 call log, whichlists the faxes handled by the fax processing system 124 for thesubscriber, is updated. At this point, the fax is available locally onthe computer terminal 110 for viewing at the subscriber's convenience.It is also archived in the MS subsystem 138, so that it can be viewedfrom other computer terminals.

As another option, the subscriber may choose not to accept calls fromthe sending party. Referring to FIG. 7, steps 401-405 take place as inFIG. 5. Having screened the fax call, the subscriber can signal 505 thefax processing system 124 to abort the fax reception and to communicatethe request not to be called in the future. For example, the subscribercan activate the “BLOCK CALL” option 640. In this example, thesubscriber can either select a “Do NOT ANSWER this Call” option 642 or a“Tell them to TAKE ME OFF their list” option 644. The client application116 sends 505 a corresponding instruction to the fax processing system124. Upon receiving the “Do NOT ANSWER this Call” instruction, the faxprocessing system 124 interrupts recording of the fax and/or deletes therecorded fax. Upon receiving the “Tell them to TAKE ME OFF their list”instruction, the fax processing system 124 also plays 507 a voice promptto the sender, such as “The person you have called does not acceptsolicitations. Please remove this phone number from your calling list.Thank you and goodbye.” The fax processing system 124 disconnects 508the call and makes 509 a corresponding entry in the subscriber's calllog (e.g., telemarketer). In yet another option, the fax processingsystem 124 can send a “canned reply” fax to the sender. This replyformally requests that the sender remove the subscriber from their faxbroadcast list.

The options dialog box could pop an additional query to determine if thesubscriber would like the fax processing system 124 to always apply thistreatment to future calls from this sender phone number. This automaticfax handling rule can be stored in a table of subscriber preferencesettings for the fax processing system 124, for example in DB subsystem136 as a simple extension table of the subscriber's address book. Ifdirected to do so, the fax processing system 124 would automaticallyblock future calls from this sender and relieve the subscriber fromhaving to handle them.

As another variation, the subscriber can monitor the Caller ID andCaller Name of the incoming call and decide not to accept calls fromthis sender. The fax processing system 124 could be optionallyconfigured to delay answering the incoming fax for a fixed time intervalor for a specific number of ring cycles in order to allow the subscribertime to review the Caller ID and Caller Name. If the client application116 instructs the fax processing system 124 to block the call before theincoming call has been answered, the fax processing system 124 willignore the call (that is, let it ring) or reject it with an appropriateerror tone and/or audible error message; e.g. a network reorder tone orspecial information tone along with a system error announcement (thesemethods can defeat fax spam systems). If the client application 116instruction comes after the incoming call has been answered, the faxprocessing system 124 will handle the fax as described above.

Finally, the client application 116 provides the subscriber withadditional utility including but not limited to: the ability from themenu option 690 to forward the fax as an attachment to an email addressor fax to another fax number, delete the fax from the call log 660,launch a viewer 650 to display the fax on the computer or on a printer,scroll through a list of voice and fax calls 680, and undelete apreviously deleted fax from the menu option 690.

As another variation of fax handling, the following process describes ascenario when the subscriber's computer terminal 110 is offline. Whenthe fax call arrives on one of the FL trunks 118, along with thesignaling information, the FM subsystem 108 queries the SM subsystem 122and/or the DB subsystem 136 using the incoming call's DNIS (callednumber) to determine whether the call is for a registered subscriber,what the subscriber's online/offline presence status is, and to retrievethat subscriber's fax handling preference rules. If the fax processingsystem 124 determines that the subscriber is not connected (i.e., he isoffline or otherwise unavailable), the fax processing system will carryout default rules for handling the call. These default rules may be thesame for all subscribers or they may be individually determined bysubscribers.

An example default rule is to answer the call and record the fax, forlater notification and/or transmission when the subscriber comes online.Other fax handling rules could include the fax handling optionsdescribed previously. For example, the CM subsystem 108 may optionallyblock the incoming fax based on the Caller ID. Regardless, when thesubscriber subsequently connects to the Internet over a broadband ordial-up connection 114, 120, the client application 116 checks in withthe SM subsystem 122. Client synchronization allows faxes not previouslyreceived by the client application 116 to be presented. In thisimplementation, new faxes delivered by synchronization are treated inthe same fashion as new calls that were received directly by the clientapplication 116 when the subscriber's computer terminal 110 was online.Furthermore, the process of trickle or burst downloading of faxes canbegin as described above. As an additional option, a message-waitingindication can be activated or a Short Message Service (SMS) message orpaging alert sent if any new faxes are placed into the call log.Message-waiting indication is active until the faxes have been viewed orthe message-waiting light/icon has been deactivated by the subscriber.

FIGS. 5-7 illustrate some specific examples of features implemented by afax processing system 124. Other features will be apparent. For example,rather than transmitting the fax or fax notification to a single networkaddress for the subscriber, the fax processing system 124 couldbroadcast the fax to multiple network addresses or even to networkaddresses for multiple subscribers. Alternately, the faxes could betransmitted to one or more fax devices. Routing of the faxes can bedetermined by rules determined in advance, or by instructions receivedfrom the subscriber (for example via a pop-up dialog menu).

The detailed description contains many specifics. These should not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the invention but merely asillustrating different examples and aspects of the invention. It shouldbe appreciated that the scope of the invention includes otherembodiments not discussed in detail above. Various other modifications,changes and variations which will be apparent to those skilled in theart may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methodand apparatus of the present invention disclosed herein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention should bedetermined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.Furthermore, no element, component or method step is intended to bededicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component ormethod step is explicitly recited in the claims.

1. A method for handling fax transmissions comprising: receiving a faxcall via a public telephone network at a fax processing system, the faxcall originally destined for a subscriber's phone number; determiningthat the subscriber is connected to a data communications network at anetwork address on the data communications network; transmitting a faxcall notification to the subscriber's network address, whereintransmission of the fax call notification begins regardless of whetherthe fax has been completely received; transmitting a fax callnotification to the subscriber's network address, wherein transmissionof the fax call notification begins regardless of whether the fax hasbeen completely received; receiving an instruction from the subscriberfor handling the fax, wherein a display of the fax call notificationincludes options for fax handling instructions, and the receivedinstruction is selected from the options in the display; in response tothe received instruction, transmitting the fax to the subscriber'snetwork address, wherein the fax is streamed to the subscriber's networkaddress; halting streaming of the fax upon interruption of thesubscriber's connection; and then automatically resuming transmission ofthe fax upon reconnection by the subscriber.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein the step of the transmitting the fax call notification comprisestransmitting the fax call notification in real-time.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the fax call notification includes a phone number of asender of the fax, and the phone number is obtained from calleridentification information for the fax call received at the faxprocessing system.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the calleridentification information is provided by a fax device sending the faxcall.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein the caller identificationinformation is provided during call setup of the fax call by the publictelephone network.
 6. The method of claim 3 wherein display of the faxnotification includes an identifier for the sender, the identifierobtained from a database using the sender's phone number.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein a display of the fax includes options for faxhandling instructions.
 8. A method for handling fax transmissionscomprising: receiving a fax call via a public telephone network at a faxprocessing system, the fax call originally destined for a subscriber'sphone number; determining that the subscriber is connected to a datacommunications network at a network address on the data communicationsnetwork; transmitting a fax call notification to the subscriber'snetwork address, wherein transmission of the fax call notificationbegins regardless of whether the fax has been completely received;receiving an instruction from the subscriber for handling the fax,wherein a display of the fax call notification includes options for faxhandling instructions, and the received instruction is selected from theoptions in the display; and in response to the received instruction,transmitting the fax to the subscriber's network address, wherein thefax is streamed through a firewall to the subscriber's network address.9. A method for handling fax transmissions comprising: receiving a faxcall via a public telephone network at a fax processing system, the faxcall originally destined for a subscriber's phone number; determiningthat the subscriber is connected to a data communications network at anetwork address on the data communications network; transmitting a faxcall notification to the subscriber's network address, whereintransmission of the fax call notification begins regardless of whetherthe fax has been completely received; receiving an instruction from thesubscriber for handling the fax, wherein a display of the fax callnotification includes options for fax handling instructions, and thereceived instruction is selected from the options in the display; and inresponse to the received instruction, transmitting the fax to thesubscriber's network address, wherein the step of transmitting the faxto the subscriber's network address comprises: streaming the fax to thesubscriber's network address at a data rate that reduces congestion withother transmissions to or from the network address.
 10. A method forhandling fax transmissions comprising: receiving a fax call via a publictelephone network at a fax processing system the fax call originallydestined for a subscriber's phone number; determining that thesubscriber is connected to a data communications network at a networkaddress on the data communications network; transmitting a fax callnotification to the subscriber's network address, wherein transmissionof the fax call notification begins regardless of whether the fax hasbeen completely received; receiving an instruction from the subscriberfor handling the fax, wherein a display of the fax call notificationincludes options for fax handling instructions, and the receivedinstruction is selected from the options in the display; and in responseto the received instruction, transmitting the fax to the subscriber'snetwork address, wherein the step of transmitting the fax to thesubscriber's network address comprises: transmitting the fax through afirewall to the subscriber's network address.
 11. A method for handlingfax transmissions comprising: receiving a fax call via a publictelephone network at a fax processing system, the fax call originallydestined for a subscriber's phone number; determining that thesubscriber is connected to a data communications network at a networkaddress on the data communications network; transmitting a fax callnotification to the subscriber's network address, wherein transmissionof the fax call notification begins regardless of whether the fax hasbeen completely received; and transmitting a second fax callnotification to a second network address for the subscriber.
 12. Amethod for handling fax transmissions comprising: receiving a fax callvia a public telephone network at a fax processing system, the fax calloriginally destined for a subscriber's phone number; determining thatthe subscriber is not connected to a data communications network;storing the fax; subsequently determining that the subscriber isconnected to the data communications network at a network address on thedata communications network; and transmitting a fax call notification tothe subscriber's network address; and streaming the fax to thesubscriber's network address, wherein streaming the fax to thesubscriber's network address comprises transmitting the fax through afirewall to the subscriber's network address.
 13. The method of claim 12wherein the fax call notification includes a phone number of a sender ofthe fax, and the phone number is obtained from caller identificationinformation for the fax call received at the fax processing system. 14.The method of claim 13 wherein display of the fax notification includesan identifier for the sender, the identifier obtained from a databaseusing the sender's phone number.
 15. The method of claim 12 wherein thestep of streaming the fax to the subscriber's network address comprises:streaming the fax to the subscriber's network address at a data ratethat reduces congestion with other transmissions to or from the networkaddress.
 16. The method of claim 12 further comprising: activating amessage-waiting indicator.
 17. A method for handling fax transmissionscomprising: receiving a fax call destined for a subscriber's phonenumber; determining that the subscriber is connected to a datacommunications network at a network address on the data communicationsnetwork; transmitting the fax or a fax call notification to thesubscriber's network address, wherein transmission begins regardless ofwhether the fax has been completely received, and halting transmissionof the fax upon interruption of the subscriber's connection, and thenautomatically resuming transmission of the fax upon reconnection by thesubscriber.
 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of receiving thefax call comprises: receiving the fax call as a result of callforwarding on busy from the subscriber's phone number.
 19. The method ofclaim 18 wherein the subscriber's phone number is busy because acorresponding phone line is used to connect the subscriber to theInternet.
 20. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of receiving thefax call comprises: receiving the fax call as a result of either callforwarding no answer or call forwarding all from the subscriber's phonenumber.
 21. The method of claim 17 wherein: the subscriber's phonenumber terminates in the fax processing system.
 22. The method of claim17 wherein: the subscriber's phone number is ported from a local phonecarrier to the fax processing system.
 23. The method of claim 17 whereinthe public telephone network includes a PSTN, and the datacommunications network includes an Internet.
 24. The method of claim 17wherein the step of receiving the fax call comprises: receiving the faxcall via a VoIP network.
 25. The method of claim 17 wherein the step ofreceiving the fax call comprises: receiving the fax call via a wirelessnetwork.
 26. The method of claim 17 further comprising: activating amessage-waiting indicator.
 27. The method of claim 17 furthercomprising: transmitting an SMS message to the subscriber.
 28. Themethod of claim 17 further comprising: transmitting the fax to thesubscriber as an email attachment.
 29. The method of claim 17 furthercomprising: transmitting the fax to the subscriber's network address ata data rate that reduces congestion with other transmissions to or fromthe network address.
 30. The method of claim 17 further comprising:transmitting the fax to two or more network addresses.
 31. The method ofclaim 17 further comprising: transmitting the fax through a firewall tothe subscriber's network address.
 32. A method for handling faxtransmissions comprising: receiving a fax call via a public telephonenetwork at a fax processing system, the fax call originally destined fora subscriber's phone number; determining that the subscriber is notconnected to a data communications network; storing the fax;subsequently determining that the subscriber is connected to the datacommunications network at a network address on the data communicationsnetwork; and transmitting a fax call notification to the subscriber'snetwork address; streaming the fax to the subscriber's network address;and transmitting the fax to two or more network addresses.
 33. A methodfor handling fax transmissions comprising: receiving a fax call via apublic telephone network at a fax processing system, the fax calloriginally destined for a subscriber's phone number; determining thatthe subscriber is not connected to a data communications network;storing the fax; subsequently determining that the subscriber isconnected to the data communications network at a network address on thedata communications network; and transmitting a fax call notification tothe subscriber's network address; streaming the fax to the subscriber'snetwork address; and halting streaming of the fax upon interruption ofthe subscriber's connection; and then automatically resumingtransmission of the fax upon reconnection by the subscriber.
 34. Amethod for handling fax transmissions comprising: receiving a fax via apublic telephone network at a fax processing system, wherein the fax wasoriginally destined for a subscriber's phone number; determining thatthe subscriber is connected to a data communications network at anetwork address on the data communications network; transmitting a faxnotification to the subscriber's network address; and receiving a faxhandling instruction from the subscriber at the fax processing system;beginning transmission of the fax to the subscriber's network address ata first data rate; and after transmission of the fax to the subscriber'snetwork address has begun, changing a data rate of the transmissionaccording to the subscriber's instruction.
 35. A method for handling faxtransmissions comprising: receiving a fax via a public telephone networkat a fax processing system, wherein the fax was originally destined fora subscriber's phone number; determining that the subscriber isconnected to a data communications network at a network address on thedata communications network; transmitting a fax notification to thesubscriber's network address; receiving a fax handling instruction fromthe subscriber at the fax processing system; and undeleting the fax,according to an instruction from the subscriber.
 36. The method of claim35 further comprising: determining a phone number for a sender of thefax; and according to the subscriber's instruction, transmitting a voicemessage to the sender's phone number indicating the subscriber's desireto not receive any more faxes.
 37. The method of claim 35 furthercomprising: determining a phone number for a sender of the fax; andaccording to the subscriber's instruction, transmitting a fax to thesender's phone number indicating the subscriber's desire to not receiveany more faxes.
 38. The method of claim 35 wherein the step oftransmitting the fax notification to the subscriber's network addresscomprises: transmitting the fax notification to the subscriber's networkaddress while the fax is being received at the fax processing system.39. The method of claim 35 further comprising: allowing the fax call togo unanswered for a preselected number of rings; and either accepting orrejecting the fax call according to the subscriber's instruction. 40.The method of claim 35 further comprising: storing a phone number of asender of the fax in the subscriber's address book, wherein the phonenumber is obtained from caller identification information for the faxcall received at the fax processing system.
 41. The method of claim 35further comprising: storing a fax handling preference selected by thesubscriber.
 42. The method of claim 35 further comprising: modifying anentry in the subscriber's address book according to the subscriber'sinstruction; and storing the modified entry in the subscriber's addressbook.
 43. The method of claim 35 wherein the instruction is sent by thesubscriber in response to a display of the fax notification.
 44. Themethod of claim 35 further comprising: transmitting the fax to a phonenumber determined by the subscriber's instruction.
 45. The method ofclaim 35 further comprising: transmitting the fax to a different networkaddress determined by the subscriber's instruction.
 46. The method ofclaim 35 further comprising: determining a phone number for a sender ofthe fax; and blocking other faxes originating from the sender's phonenumber, according to the subscriber's instruction.
 47. The method ofclaim 35 further comprising: not transmitting the fax to the subscriber,according to the subscriber's instruction.
 48. The method of claim 35further comprising: causing a display of the fax, according to aninstruction from the subscriber.
 49. The method of claim 35 furthercomprising: deleting the fax, according to an instruction from thesubscriber.
 50. A method for handling fax transmissions comprising:receiving a fax via a public telephone network at a fax processingsystem, wherein the fax was originally destined for a subscriber's phonenumber; determining that the subscriber is connected to a datacommunications network at a network address on the data communicationsnetwork; transmitting a fax notification to the subscriber's networkaddress; receiving a fax handling instruction from the subscriber at thefax processing system; and transmitting a query to the subscriber askingwhether the subscriber's instruction should be adopted as a rule forhandling faxes.